25mar99.....0359h

1/13/00 2269s

2000 SESSION

99-0602

03/01

HOUSE BILL 422

COMMITTEE: Commerce

AMENDED ANALYSIS

This bill expands the restrictions on advertising by rent-to-own businesses to include advertisements that refer to a dollar amount of an initial, periodic, or final payment or offer a free initial, periodic, or final payment. This bill also permits such advertisements to include representative samples of total payments instead of total payments for each item advertised.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.

Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]

Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

25mar99.....0359h

1/13/00 2269s

99-0602

03/01

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

8:1 Trade and Commerce; Rent-to-Own Agreement Act; Advertising; Dollar Amount of Periodic Payment Deleted. Amend RSA 358-P:5 to read as follows:

358-P:5 Advertising.

I. If an advertisement for a rent-to-own agreement refers to or states the dollar amount of [a periodic payment for a specific] an initial, periodic, or final payment or offers a free initial, periodic, or final payment for any item and refers to or states the right to acquire ownership of the item, then for such item the advertisement shall also clearly and conspicuously state the following:

(a) That the transaction advertised is a rent-to-own agreement.

(b) The total number and total amount of periodic payments necessary to acquire ownership of the item or a representative sample of the total number and total amount of periodic payments for each category of items in the advertisement.

(c) That the consumer acquires no ownership rights unless the total amount necessary to acquire ownership is paid.

II. Any owner or personnel of any medium in which an advertisement appears or through which it is disseminated shall not be liable under this section.

III. The provisions of paragraph I of this section shall not apply to an advertisement which does not refer to or state the amount of any payment, or which is published in the yellow pages of a telephone directory or in any similar directory of business.

IV. Every item displayed or offered under a rent-to-own agreement shall bear a tag or card that clearly and conspicuously indicates in Arabic numerals each of the following:

(a) The cash price of the item.

(b) The amount of the periodic payment.

(c) The total number and total dollar amount of periodic payments necessary to acquire ownership.

8:2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2001.

(Approved: February 16, 2000)

(Effective Date: January 1, 2001)